The invention relates to a method for operating a fragmentation system to achieve a more effective grinding of a fragmentation product, consisting of mineral and/or brittle materials, into target particle sizes of <5 mm, as well as to a fragmentation system operating on the basis of said method.
The technical principle used for the fragmentation system is based on the FRANKA technology (FRANKA=Fragmentieranlage Karlsruhe=fragmentation system Karlsruhe), as described in reference DE 195 34 232. The fragmentation system consists of an electric energy store which is discharged in a pulsed mode into a reaction vessel and into the fragmentation products, which are submerged in a processing fluid in the region between two electrode ends that are positioned at a distance to each other, the reaction zone.
For the grinding of the material by means of the fragmentation system, the fragmentation product positioned between the two electrode ends in the processing fluid is fragmented with the aid of disruptive electric breakdowns and the shockwaves generated as a result. These mineral and/or brittle materials can have a uniform structure such as rock/stone or glass, or they can have a conglomerate structure such as sedimentary rock and concrete. The target particle sizes are <5 mm and preferably even <2 mm. Fragmented particles below this particle size are extracted from the process area by means of filter cartridges, e.g. as for the gravel and sand production, or the grinding of color bodies, or in general for materials that are not compound materials. Fragmentation products such as products obtained when tearing down a building are continuously filled back into the process area to replenish the amount of fragmentation product which is removed.
The fragmentation system comprises an electric energy store that is discharged in the form of a pulsed discharge via a spark gap into a load, wherein this load is the processing fluid with therein submerged fragmentation product in the region between the electrodes. The two electrodes are positioned opposite each other in the processing fluid, at a predetermined, adjustable distance relative to each other, wherein the electrode ends are completely submerged. The reaction vessel normally contains the processing fluid into which the product to be fragmented is poured and from which the fragmented product with particle sizes at or below the predetermined threshold value is subsequently removed.